🕘 Lesson at a Glance | Te Hōtaka
Lesson Overview | Tirohanga Whānui
We now have the data on what is changing (Lesson 2) and two ways of reading it (Lesson 3) — so what do we do with it? This lesson ākonga meet real young people in Aotearoa and the Pacific who turned that knowing into action. They analyse a real youth climate campaign for what actually worked, weigh the argument that climate action is a Te Tiriti obligation, then design their own one-page campaign proposal — a genuine intervention for their school or community that they will carry forward into the Lesson 7 Kaitiaki Action Plan.
Learning Intentions | Ngā Whāinga Ako
- Analyse a real youth climate campaign — its specific ask, its tactics, and what it actually changed.
- Explain how climate action connects to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the rights of tangata whenua and Pacific peoples.
- Design a specific, achievable climate-action proposal for your school or community, with a kaitiaki framing.
⚡ Do Now
⏱ 5 minWe know a lot about the climate now. What turns knowing into doing?
- Notice (2 min): in your book, name one change someone made happen — at your school, in your community, or in the news — that started with a young person or a small group deciding to act. What did they actually do?
- Wonder (3 min): last lesson we said we now have the data and two ways of reading it. What would it take for our class to turn what we know about the climate into one real change? Who would we have to convince?
Activity 1 · Analyse a Real Youth Climate Campaign
⏱ 20 minWhat it is: Researching an intervention means looking hard at something real people actually did — what they asked for, how they did it, and what changed. Ākonga take one real NZ or Pacific youth campaign and analyse it against four questions, building a shared "what works" picture for their own proposal.
✊ School Strike 4 Climate — Aotearoa, 2019
On 27 September 2019 an estimated 170,000 people marched in more than 40 towns and cities — Auckland's march alone drew around 80,000. It was organised largely by secondary students, part of a global day of action. Ask: stronger government climate targets.
🌊 Pacific Climate Warriors
Pacific youth combining direct action with cultural identity — most famously paddling traditional canoes to blockade a coal port in Newcastle, Australia. Their slogan: "We are not drowning, we are fighting." Ask: stop fossil-fuel expansion that threatens low-lying nations.
🚌 Generation Zero
A NZ youth-led group that helped shape real policy — its advocacy fed into the design of the Zero Carbon Act 2019 and Auckland transport proposals. Ask: turn climate goals into binding law.
💸 350 Aotearoa
Campaigned for NZ institutions — universities, the Super Fund — to divest from fossil fuels. Several did. Ask: move money out of the companies driving the problem.
Run it — He Tātaritanga Kōkiri (analyse a campaign)
- Watch & note (5 min): as a class, watch the RISE clip above — each ākonga jots the campaign's specific ask and one tactic (your "watch with a job" notes).
- Analyse (9 min): in groups of 3–4, pick the strike — or another campaign above, or one from your own kura or rohe — and answer the four questions on the worksheet — He aha? (what was the specific ask and tactics), Ko wai? (who organised it, who was the decision-maker, were Māori and Pacific voices included), He aha te hua? (what actually changed, or didn't), and He hononga kaitiaki? (did it carry a kaitiaki or Tiriti framing — and could one have made it stronger).
- Share (6 min): each group reports one tactic that worked and one that didn't. As a class, build a short "What Works" list — clear ask, real stories, coalition, cultural grounding, persistence — to draw on in Activity 3.
Activity 2 · Te Tiriti o Waitangi & Climate Justice
⏱ 15 minWhat it is: Many youth activists in Aotearoa argue climate change is not only a science problem — it is a Te Tiriti issue, and a justice issue for the Pacific. Ākonga weigh that argument and take a position, so their own campaign in Activity 3 can stand on more than facts.
📜 The Tiriti argument
Te Tiriti guarantees Māori tino rangatiratanga over their taonga — land, water, mahinga kai. Climate change directly threatens those taonga (sea-level rise, flooding, drought), so activists argue the Crown has a Tiriti duty to act. Kaitiakitanga is named in the Resource Management Act 1991.
🌏 The Pacific justice argument
Low-lying Pacific nations did least to cause climate change but face the worst of it. Pacific youth advocacy helped win the "Loss and Damage" fund at COP27 (2022) — wealthy nations agreeing to help pay for climate harm in vulnerable countries.
🪧 Intergenerational justice
The tamariki in the room today will live with the decisions made now. Activists frame this as fairness across generations — a direct line to kaitiakitanga: care for those who come after us.
Run it — take a position
- Read & mark (6 min): in pairs, decide which of the three arguments above you find most convincing, and why. Find one weakness someone might raise against it.
- Take a position (9 min): answer in a few sentences — "Is climate action a Te Tiriti issue? Should that change how the government responds?" Use one argument and name its limit. There is no single right answer; there is a well-reasoned one.
🪶 Mātauranga (frame with care): the Tiriti and kaitiakitanga framing here is the public, widely-argued case — not iwi-specific or sacred knowledge. If local hapū or kaumātua connections to this kōrero are available, invite them in on their own terms rather than speaking for them.
Activity 3 · Design Your Campaign Proposal
⏱ 25 minWhat it is: This is where knowing becomes doing. Using what worked in Activity 1 and the justice framing from Activity 2, each ākonga (or pair) designs a one-page proposal for a real, achievable climate intervention at their school or in their community. This is the seed of the Lesson 7 Kaitiaki Action Plan, so it is worth genuine thought.
🎯 A specific ask
Not "do more about climate" — one concrete, achievable change. e.g. "Plant the bottom field in natives by 2027," "Put solar on the hall roof," "Start a school food forest and compost system."
🧭 A named decision-maker
Who actually has the power to say yes? Principal, Board of Trustees, local council, your MP. A good campaign knows exactly who it is asking.
🌱 A kaitiaki framing
How does your campaign care for this place, its mauri, and the people who come after? This is what ties your science to your responsibility.
Run it — Tō Ake Kōkiri (your own campaign)
- Draft (18 min): complete Part B of the worksheet — campaign name, the specific problem, your one clear ask, your target decision-maker, three tactics, your kaitiaki connection, your allies, and how you'd know you succeeded.
- Pressure-test (7 min): swap with another ākonga. Ask each other the hardest question: "Is this ask actually achievable, and is the decision-maker the right one?" Note one change you'd make. Keep your draft — Lesson 7 builds the class plan from these.
Exit · Quick Check — He Aha i Mau i a Koe?
⏱ 5 minOn a slip or in their book, each ākonga finishes these three sentences before they leave:
- One tactic from a real campaign I'd use in my own, and why it worked:
- One way climate action connects to Te Tiriti or to the Pacific:
- My campaign's one specific ask is… and the person who can say yes is…:
🎯 Curriculum Links | Te Hononga ki te Marautanga
This lesson's focus: Ākonga research a real youth climate campaign as an intervention — its specific ask, tactics and actual outcomes — then design their own achievable intervention for their school or community, framed by Te Tiriti and kaitiakitanga. The emphasis is on the practicalities and outcomes of solutions, which is the heart of the statement below.
Ecosystems — Core Connection (Phase 4 | Years 9–10)
"Researching interventions that address specific ecosystem disruptions, using case studies or local examples to explore the practicalities and outcomes of different solutions (e.g. conservation strategies, sustainable technologies)"
📑 View the full verified Te Mātaiaho curriculum alignment for this unit → — Phase 4 · Years 9–10 (statements pulled verbatim from the live curriculum).
📦 Materials & Resources
📋 Handouts & what you'll need
- Campaign Proposal & Analysis worksheet — Part A (analyse a campaign) used in Activity 1; Part B (design your own) used in Activity 3
- Student books; devices for quick research in Activity 1
🔗 Research starting points
- School Strike 4 Climate Aotearoa; Generation Zero; 350 Aotearoa (each group's own site)
- 350 Pacific / Pacific Climate Warriors
- RNZ and NZ Herald archives for the 27 September 2019 strike
🎥 Media
- RISE: The school students leading New Zealand's climate strikes (The Spinoff) — embedded in Activity 1 as the analysis stimulus, with a "watch with a job" task. Watch on YouTube ↗
- Prefer a short news clip instead? Newshub or 1News coverage of the 27 Sept 2019 strike — all verified live.
📊 Assessment Framework
This is a single lesson, so assessment here is formative — reading for learning as it happens. The unit's summative assessment sits at the end of the unit, not in this lesson.
What to look for, mapped to the learning intentions
- Analysing a campaign (LI 1): in Activity 1, can ākonga name a campaign's specific ask and a real outcome — not just "they raised awareness"?
- Climate & Te Tiriti (LI 2): in Activity 2 and the exit, can they explain one genuine connection between climate action and Tiriti or Pacific rights, and see its limit?
- Designing an intervention (LI 3): in Activity 3, is the proposal specific and achievable, with a named decision-maker and a real kaitiaki framing — not a vague wish?
🚀 Extension & Mahi Kāinga
✉️Mahi Kāinga — A Real Letter
Self-directed, optional. Write a short letter to your principal, Board of Trustees, or local MP making your campaign's one specific ask. Keep it factual and personal — this is a letter you could actually send.
🔍Activist Profile
Research one NZ or Pacific youth climate activist. What do they campaign for? How do they use their cultural identity in their mahi? Write a short profile.
🤝Find an Ally
Identify one real person or group in your school or community who could support your campaign — a teacher, local iwi contact, environmental group — and note how you'd approach them.
🔗 Unit Progression & Next Steps
This is Lesson 4 of the 8-lesson Antarctica unit — the turn from understanding to action. Where it sits:
← Lesson 3: Mātauranga Māori
The maramataka and ngā tohu — a second way of reading the climate, alongside science.
→ Lesson 5: Community Solutions
Community-scale climate solutions already working in Aotearoa — models for our own.
Into Lesson 7: the campaign proposals drafted today are the raw material for the class Kaitiaki Action Plan. Keep them safe — Lesson 5 (community solutions) and Lesson 6 (carbon footprint) feed straight into them.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ I can analyse a real youth climate campaign — its ask, tactics, and what it actually changed. (LI 1)
- ✅ I can explain one genuine way climate action connects to Te Tiriti or to Pacific rights. (LI 2)
- ✅ I can design a specific, achievable campaign with a named decision-maker and a kaitiaki framing. (LI 3)
Differentiation for this lesson
- Campaign analysis: give entry-level ākonga one campaign with two of the four answers already started; ask extension ākonga to compare two campaigns and judge which intervention was more effective and why.
- Proposal / ELL: provide sentence starters for each field of Part B; allow first-language kōrero and planning before writing the proposal in English.
- Climate anxiety: this lesson is deliberately about agency — keep the framing on "here is what young people did, and what we can do," not on catastrophe. Designing a real, achievable ask is the antidote.
Broader differentiation and the unit-wide mātauranga framing live on the unit overview.